Sealed Private Letter sent to Leanne Melior

[Mischief]

(Letter pushed under the door of Leanne Melior's residence by an unseen street urchin in the dead of night)

Dear Leanne.

After you left several days ago, I thought long and hard about writing this letter. You said you did not want to know what I had to tell you, but you need to know and you know within yourself that is the truth. You need to put your fear behind you and take all necessary means to protect yourself and those you love. Your parting words to me were “If I ever see you in Cove, I’ll kill you.” We both know you will not do that. I know full well who will and you and many others are not among them.

First to Kiran. You might wonder what a sick thug like him has to do with the Yew/Cove Church. Well the answer to that is his most heinous crime was sanctioned by the church. Back in the day when he lived in Yew and began his criminal activities, he got a girl pregnant. Not unusual you might say, but they were unmarried and by the laws of the church that is a crime. For almost two years he managed to keep his “secret” from the church and they stayed together unmarried although he did treat her extremely badly. The church finally got wind of the affair and confronted the three at their home one night. Although there were around 6 templars in attendance, Hugo may have been one of them but that is unverified, and a similar number of Yewish Militia no trial took place. All they did was issue a chilling verdict.

The girl was immediately burnt on a pyre. Her crime? She was a “whore” and a “temptress” who lured Kiran into sinning by using her “feminine charms” sent by the Guardian to prey on mans weakness. It was Kiran himself who poured oil over the poor girl and set the pyre alight. As the girl screamed in agony Kiran turned to the templars and thanked them for letting him set fire to the “harlot”. Judgement was then passed on Kiran. He was to repent his sins and as punishment was to leave Yew. He asked what his fate would be if he did not repent and if he did what was his penance. By not repenting he would suffer the same fate as the girl but by repenting his penance would be the destruction of all evidence of the affair.

Coward that he was, Kiran chose repentance. In front of all the gathered witnesses, Kiran picked up his baby daughter by the feet and repeatedly smashed her head against the fireplace until it was nothing but mush. He then threw the lifeless innocent girl into the fire and watched her burn. The templars congratulated Kiran on his wise choice and told him neither the girl nor the vile creature she spawned ever existed.

This was how Kiran described that terrible night, in fact he actually boasted about it. Now you may wonder why he would confirm a rumour that had be circulating for years without proof. Firstly I had tricked him into meeting me by turning his vainness against him. Secondly, he was sure I would not survive the encounter. But I had chosen the meeting place well, it was at the end of the bridge leading to the Vesper Honey Shop and I had arrived there hours before the arranged meeting time. My choice of location meant his henchmen, Van Cocidus, O’Connor and Valantine (yes Kas Valantine) could not sneak over the bridge unnoticed. I also had Kal Shadowhand as my backup that they were unaware of. Kiran was also unaware that I knew the secret exit from the honey shop area.

So I had all the evidence and all I needed was a witness. I eventually found one. His name is Tommy Nottingbury and I believe he may now be the only witness left to the atrocity. I asked him about that night and he confirmed everything Kiran told me, with one major difference. Tommy said the mother was forced to watch her daughter being brutally murdered before she was burned.

By this time Kiran was the Bailiff of Cove and used that office to continue his criminal activities. He was able to freely terrorise the locals, extorting ridiculous taxes and manoeuvred himself into an almost untouchable position. He did this by keeping the Baron happy financially, had his old VTC heavies, Cocidius, O’Connor and Gerek as enforcers and also used Cove Militia like Valantine, Tev’lar and even Morana. Crucially he also had the backing of the church because by exposing him it exposed the church. I took the evidence to Morana and told him justice should be done. But Morana had been bought off and he was also in other trouble because of the debacle surrounding his wife, she was abducted and tortured and despite warnings had allowed it to happen. Justice was never served on Kiran.

I knew too much, still do, so the full force of the church and army came down on me. I was caught, tortured and condemned to burn as a heretic. The night before I was due to die Kal Shadowhand and trusted allies busted me out of the barracks cell and I was free. Poor Kal’s reward was exile. The Covian armies best Viper had been discarded.

I am sorry this letter is so long but someone else now needs to know the full story about how deep the church corruption goes. Keep this letter safe, as it is just one small part of evidence. Other letters will follow. I will tell you what Ilyana knows, what Pickles knows but will not tell you because of the pain it will cause her. I will tell you what Klion confided to me and about the church tomes he showed me. The “Greater Being” the church worships is NOT the Avatar but the Shadowlord Astaroth.

No compassion equals no love, no love equals hatred – Astaroth.

You will hear again from me soon, but you know where to find me and how contact me anyway. You will not be alone in this, I will tell you who to trust and who to keep clear of. There is another on her way; she will have much to add about this corrupt conspiracy that has festered since the day the Yew/Cove church was founded.

Mischief

(Outside those directly involved this information is strictly OOC)

[Mischief]

(Letter pushed under the door of Leanne Melior's residence by an unseen street urchin in the dead of night)

Letter 2.

Dear Leanne.

I promised you I would write again. Keep this safe along with the first letter as it is yet more evidence against a church which is in truth anti Avatarian.

Klion D’Gar, the one time ruler of Yew, gave much of which I will now tell you to me. Shortly after I first made contact with Klion I soon gained his trust due to the solid and reliable information I was able to pass on to him. Through him I was also able to get to know his wife, Larynda, and we became firm friends despite the fact she was drow.

Back in the days when Yew was nothing more than a glorified swamp, the church was formed as a buffer to explain the hardship the Yewish people endured. It was not the poor location for settlement that was to blame but everything that was around them. The church was formed not to create an aura of comfort and succour but to create an aura of fear and hatred. But a fundamental problem existed in that the word of the Avatar did not sit well with fear and hatred. So to get around this they created the myth that compassion was a false virtue. Of course it took time for the church to get an iron grip on the people but through the tacit agreement of the Yewish military, the church was able to cower the people by force. The relationship between the church and the Yew leadership became symbiotic since there was but one singular aim – total domination of the land.

The people of Yew were conditioned to have a fear and hatred of outsiders and other races especially elves. Everything and everyone outside Yew was to blame for anything that went wrong. Anyone using the arcane was classed as a wytch and condemned. Anything they did not understand was wrong and classed as evil. The world was against them so they would conquer and dominate it. Women also suffered at the hands of the church, they were seen as a distraction to military training, a drain on strength and prowess and every month became “unclean” which was seen as another form of wytchery.

When Yew first allied with Cove they immediately set about introducing their corrupt version of the Avatarian Church. It was a successful introduction due to the fact that the Baron of Cove was only interested in gold. As long as his lust for riches was satisfied he could not care less what happened around him. A weak man and even weaker leader he was easily manipulated by the church and military. With the connivance of the Covian military, which for the first time had a sense of power, the church systematically hammered elves and women into submission. The same element of fear that was so successful in Yew brought the Covian citizenship in line. The church, then as it does today, feeds on fear and if no apparent threat exists, it creates one to keep the citizens in fear.

Through the church Cove has become a puppet state of Yew. All part of the plan to make Yew the “master race”, when Yew says jump Cove asks how high. Covian military decisions are at the dictate of the church and align with Yewish policy. Not only are Covians slaves to an evil church but also slaves to Yewish expansionism.

Now I know you will point out that there have been times when Cove and Yew where not allies, indeed allied with other states to fight against Yew. But these instances happened at times when the church was weak, had token presence in Cove and the authority of the church did not reach beyond Yewish borders. It is no coincidence that when the church is strong Cove falls in line with Yew.

The purpose of a religion is to give believers comfort when needed, to aid it’s congregation when required, feed it’s flock when times are hard and a place to turn to when all seems lost. Does the church of Yew/Cove perform that service? No. It forces people to attend, it forces people to comply, it controls it’s people by fear. It makes example of “sinners” sending the message that this is what is in store if you do not obey.

And here is the irony of all this, the church would not be able to do this without the support and connivance of the military. The church controls the command and the command controls the troops. The church templars themselves alone are weak and cowardly. Let me give you an example. Not too long ago I was spying on the church when I spotted Hugo alone on horseback. I considered attacking him from my hidden position in a tree. He would be dead before he knew what hit him. I was just about to pounce when a water ellie drifted onto the land and went for Hugo so I withheld my attack. Hugo, even on horseback struggled to defeat the ellie, something I would have obliterated in moments but he struggled and screamed in fear. For what seemed like an age the ellie attacked and he ran. It chased him and clearly had the beating of him and I laughed hilariously to myself watching the spectacle. Eventually because the fiend had been out of its element for so long and became weakened, Hugo defeated it with the help of his horse. He then bolted for the sanctuary of his church.

That is Hugo the almighty templar, Leanne, a coward at heart. A coward who is only brave when surrounded by lackeys beating up restrained and defenceless women. Oh what a hard, brave superman he is!

Mischief